Living For The Day
by ipreferwestside
Summary: She could stay like this for hours, her fiancé's warm fingers around hers, the low timbre of his voice making her flush. A post-engagement one shot. For Ally.


**LIVING FOR THE DAY  
** **A post-engagement one shot**

 _Living for the day, worries far away  
_ _Our_ _last summer  
_ _We could laugh and play_

Our Last Summer - ABBA

* * *

"Good morning."

She quirks an eyebrow before opening her eyes. Rick is hovering over her, head propped on the palm of his hand, and smiles. "Morning."

His eyes darken when she stretches, and he swipes his hand down her side to cup her hip. "Sleep well?" he husks with a squeeze.

Kate chuckles and turns towards him, matches his position. "About as well as you," she teases, leaning forward to steal a kiss. She lays back down, and pulls the sheets to her shoulder when she shivers. It's a chilly morning, and they hadn't bothered to close the window the night before, had been too wrapped up in each other.

Rick brushes his hand up her arm to cup her jaw, and he kisses her again, slowly. "Coffee?" he murmurs against her mouth.

Kate hums even as he pulls away. "You have to ask?" when he slips out of bed and tugs his sweatpants over his hips, she settles deeper into the mattress, a satisfied smile on her lips.

They'd arrived in Amsterdam the night before, had gone to the apartment they're renting after a brief meal in a nearby restaurant. They'd been tired, but once they'd crossed the threshold, their bodies had refused to rest. They'd ended up christening the bed for most of the night.

Kate is pulled from her thoughts by the smell of fresh espresso, and within a moments a latte is in front of her, complete with a foam heart. She sits up before taking the mug, fingers brushing against her fiancés.

 _Her fiancé._

Barely a week removed from his proposal, and she still can't believe it.

"Are you okay?" Rick asks as he slides back under the covers. His hand finds hers, and their palms kiss, fingers lace together. "You look serious."

Kate smiles at him. "Yeah, I'm fine. Great." She shrugs. "Maybe a little suspended in disbelief."

Rick raises his eyebrows. "'Suspended in disbelief,' huh? About what?"

She takes a few sips of her coffee before answering. "This, I think." When he just stays silent, eyes on her, she shrugs again and continues. "I'd kind of given up on finding anyone. Figured my life would be about being a detective, that I'd be single for the foreseeable future." She squeezes his hand. "Never in a million years did I think I'd be tagging along with my writer fiancé in one of the most beautiful cities in Europe."

"I think you mean _favorite_ writer who happens to be your fiancé."

"Shut up." She nudges his shoulder, and they fall into a comfortable silence as they sip their coffee. When they've both finished, she takes his empty mug, ignores his protests and washes them in the kitchenette.

The apartment has some food, but she doesn't really want to prepare anything, not when there are hundreds of cafés to choose from.

Rick's eyes roam her body - she'd slipped on his shirt upon leaving the bed - but she resists the urge to climb back in bed. Instead, she motions to the adjoining bathroom. "I'm going to shower, care to join me?"

He gets out of bed so quickly, he almost falls over.

* * *

"Have you been here before?" he asks a few hours later, as they stroll along one of the city's many canals.

Kate shakes her head and leans into his side. "No, I haven't. I did some traveling during my semester in Kiev, but I never made it here. You?"

"Once." He lets go of her hand and drapes his arm around her shoulders instead. It's sunny but cool, and their table outside the breakfast cafe had been in the shade. He pauses and pulls her aside, out of the way from the tourists on the street. "I'm glad I'm here with you," he admits, raising a hand to cup her cold cheek.

She smiles and leans into his hand, turns her head to brush her lips against his palm. "Me too." She takes his hand and pulls him back onto the street. "Come on, I'll buy you coffee."

They sit at the window, leaning towards each other, and Kate chuckles at the stories he makes up about the passersby outside. He surmises that the couple with matching Hawaiian shirts are undercover CIA agents, the young woman carrying several books is on her way to read to her blind boyfriend.

She could stay like this for hours, her fiancé's warm fingers around hers, the low timbre of his voice making her flush. She's physically attracted to him, of course, but she also loves his mind and imagination. The way his creativity drives him, makes him better. But most of all she loves his heart, loves how he's sensitive enough to her needs that he's getting her another coffee before she's even finished hers.

She should really cut back on the coffee, but not today.

Today, she lets Rick buy her refill, and she settles in her seat as he tells stories of his last time here. It was a stop on a book tour when he was younger and more...wild, and although he admits he can't remember much of a bar crawl, he does remember having to crawl out a window to escape someone he'd pissed off.

"Ready to go?" she asks when he finishes his coffee. She stands at his nod, smiles into the kiss he gives her after helping her into her purple coat. Their hands lock once they're back outside, and Kate leads him down the street, towards one of the many museums the city has to offer.

They're here for a week, a brief respite from the chaos back home. Between getting engaged and Beckett accepting the job in DC, their life is a whirlwind of packing and looking for an apartment. They've decided that Rick will stay in New York, to let her settle into the new city before they talk about the potential of him moving.

She isn't looking forward to being away from him; over five years of partnership, and then a relationship, she's used to him being around, and she loves it. She loves him desperately.

"Where are we going?" he asks after a few minutes, and she jerks her head to their left.

They're visiting the Rijksmuseum today and the building looms large, the home of Dutch art and history from hundreds of years. Tomorrow they'll visit the Van Gogh Museum and Anne Frank House, but the rest of the trip they don't have planned, will just play it by ear.

* * *

Kate is in heaven. Her head on her fiancé's lap, book in her hand, his fingers sifting through her hair. The motions of his hand are soothing, relaxing, and her mind keeps wandering from the book. She finally sets it on the picnic blanket and stretches her legs out in front of her.

"I'm going to miss this."

Rick's words pull her from the edge of sleep and she turns her head to look up at him. "Hmm?"

He looks down at her, a sweet smile on his face, his gaze tender as his fingers continue their journey through her locks. "This. Having a picnic in a beautiful city, reading, relaxing. Just being together."

Kate reaches up and takes his hand, using it to pull herself up so she can sit. "Hey." She curls her fingers around his ear, a light tug prompting him to look at her. "We'll still have this. Just not as often."

"Kate." He covers her hand and squeezes. "You really think we'll have a lot of spare time? You'll be training and getting your feet under you, I have that two-week book tour…" He trails off and sighs. "I'm going to miss you."

Kate nods and looks at their clasped hands in her lap. "I know. I'll miss you too." This thumb traces circles on the back of her hand, and for a moment she gets lost in a memory of a time before they were together, when she was still damaged and healing and trying desperately to convince herself that she _wasn't_ ready for a relationship with him.

How she wishes she'd shown up at his door earlier. Maybe they'd be married now, and going to DC together instead of apart.

"Kate." He lifts her gaze with a finger under her chin, brushes his thumb along her bottom lip. "We'll be fine. We'll make it work. We'll text, FaceTime, everything. All the time. It'll be like we aren't even in separate cities."

"And when we _are_ together…"

"We'll make the most of our time," Rick finishes with a smirk, dropping his hand to her thigh.

Kate chuckles and stops his hand before he can inch his fingers beneath her skirt. "Of that, I have no doubt. Come on," she continues, standing. "It's our last day. I want to get another boat ride in."

* * *

"I can't believe we're doing this again," Kate grunts as she tries to zip up her suitcase. They're running late, as usual, because _someone_ couldn't keep his hands to himself, also as usual. "Are you almost ready?" she calls out.

The man in question emerges from the bathroom, his hair wet and wearing nothing but a towel, smirking when her gaze flicks to the towel. "Yeah, I just need a few minutes to get dressed."

Kate tears her gaze from his bare skin, tries to fixate a glare at him instead. Judging by the way his eyebrow quirks, she's failing at hiding her desire.

Yeah, she can _definitely_ go for another round.

"This is all your fault," she claims, pointing an accusatory finger at him. "If we miss our flight, it's because you can't keep your hands to yourself."

"Hey now." Rick nudges her away from the suitcase and holds down the top. "Okay, try it again. It's not my fault you brought me coffee wearing nothing but my shirt and my ring. I can only resist so much."

Kate grins when she gets her suitcase shut. "Thanks, babe," she says, stealing a kiss. "Now, get some clothes on, please?" She hooks her fingers in the waistband of the towel and tugs. "Unless you want to miss our flight."

Rick groans. "God, I wish."

Kate moves their suitcases to the door as her fiancé dresses, pausing to appreciate the view when he drops the towel. She sighs when he pulls his boxers on, and continues straightening the apartment. While they're not required to clean upon their departure, she still wipes down the counters and takes the trash out.

Rick is pulling his backpack on when Kate comes back in, and he slips his phone in his pocket. "Ready?"

"Almost." Kate steps around their suitcases and grips the straps of his bag to lift herself to his mouth. "I love you," she murmurs against his mouth when she pulls away.

He grins. "I love you too." He squeezes her hand before taking the handle of his suitcase. "Shall we?"

Kate lets him leave first, and gives the apartment one last look before shutting the door behind her, a smile on her face. This week has been perfect, a week without jobs or responsibilities, a week with just her and the man she's going to spend the rest of her life with. And she doesn't know what will happen when she moves, has no idea what the future holds.

But she loves him, and he loves her, and that's all that matters.

* * *

 _A/N: This is for the incomparable Ally, enabler extraordinaire, without whom my life would be much more boring, and LCB-less. I am forever thankful for your encouragement and flailing. And for unknowingly prompting your own birthday present (Amsterdam, purple, book)._

 _A/N 2: Many thanks to Callie and Lou, who not only put up with me, but who basically told me what to write, and gave me the title and cover art. Any mistakes are mine and mine alone._


End file.
